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Elizabeth Davenport

Carmelitas – A Simple, Delicious Dessert

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Carmelitas - a simple, delicious dessert

The 4th of July

What are your July 4th traditions?  Our 4th of July doesn’t have any food traditions (this is highly unusual for me because I love food traditions!). Though it does make me think of corn on the cob, fried chicken (or burgers and hot dogs on the grill), deviled eggs and watermelon. If I was making a special meal for the 4th, I’d include some or all of these foods for sure! I’m guessing these were foods we had on the 4th of July when I was a kid. And for dessert, I’d likely make these Carmelitas.

We’ve been going to Chautauqua, NY for 10 of the past 11 years and 9 of those years we’ve been there for the 4th of July. We’re there this year too! A big part of our tradition is the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra Pops Independence Day Celebration in the Amphitheater, which includes the audience popping paper bags in time to the cannon shots in the 1812 Overture! Then, it’s just a short walk to the lake to watch the fireworks around Chautauqua Lake. When the girls were younger, they participated in the Children’s 4th of July Parade for all the Chautauqua Children’s School kids. Here’s a photo of Ellie in the Children’s School Parade back in 2012.

Chautauqua Children’s School Independence Day Parade 2012
July 2014, Chautauqua, NY

A Simple Family-Favorite Recipe

Since the 4th of July is just around the corner and you might be looking for something to take to a get-together, I thought now would be a good time to share this recipe for Carmelitas. It’s hard to beat this combo of caramel, chocolate, oats and brown sugar! Carmelitas are DELISH and simple to make! It’s one of my most requested recipes and one of my family’s favorites.

My mother-in-law gave me the recipe many years ago. She found it in an issue of Child Magazine which was published from 1986 -2007. I’ve made a few changes to the recipe over the years.

Offer Sweets

We believe in offering sweets to children. Offering sweets on a regular basis is fun (because they taste great) and it helps children learn to use their internal cues and self regulate. Over the years, I’ve seen so many children from homes where sweets either weren’t allowed or kids were told sweets are bad or unhealthy — a treat one can only have sometimes. These messages are confusing to children and can make them feel badly for liking them.

It can help to offer sweets with meals.  This idea is from Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibility (DOR) in feeding.  The child decides what, how much and if they eat what’s offered. The sweet is on level playing field – it’s not better or worse and they don’t have to eat a certain food or finish their meal to get dessert.  It’s just part of the meal. Here’s a previous post where Anna delves deeper into the subject of dessert.

Carmelitas – The simple steps

Carmelitas - a simple, delicious dessert
Gather together the ingredients.
Unwrap the caramels (a great activity for kids of most ages). Mine always enjoy eating a few of the caramels while they unwrap them. Place in a microwave-safe bowl with 2-3 tablespoons of milk. Melt the butter and set aside. Mix together the oats, flour, dark brown sugar, salt, baking soda.
Add the melted butter to the oat, flour and brown sugar mixture. Divide the mixture in half and press half into the bottom of a prepared 9 x 13 pan. Place in an oven preheated to 350 F and bake 8-10 minutes.
Melt the caramel in the microwave, stopping to stir every 1-2 minutes until melted. Don’t let it bubble or it will get too hard during baking.
Drizzle the melted caramel over the baked oat mixture. Then sprinkle the chocolate chips over.
Carmelitas - A simple, delicious dessert
Crumble the second half of the oat mixture evenly over the chocolate chips. Return the pan to the oven and bake 7-10 minutes or until the top begins to brown a bit. Allow to cool for a couple of hours. Cut into small squares and enjoy! (You can also cool for about 30 minutes and then put them in the refrigerator for about an hour. This will allow the caramel to firm up more. I recommend this method if you’re taking these to a picnic on a warm day.)
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Carmelitas – A Simple Dessert

  • Author: Elizabeth Davenport
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Ingredients

1 cup flour

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (not steel cut oats)

¾ cup dark brown sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (semisweet works fine too)

1 bag Kraft caramels, unwrapped and melted with

2–3 tablespoons of milk

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Lightly spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray or lightly butter the pan.
  2. Unwrap the individual caramels and place them in a microwave safe bowl along with about 2 tablespoons of milk.  Set aside until ready to melt.
  3. Cut the butter into pieces and place in a microwave-safe bowl.  Melt and then allow to cool slightly.
  4. Place the flour, oats, dark brown sugar, salt and baking soda in a medium-size mixing bowl and mix to combine.  Add the melted butter and mix until the ingredients come together.
  5. Divide the mixture in half and put half of it in the prepared 9 x 11-inch pan.  Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan. It will be a thin layer. Place in the oven and bake for 8 – 10 minutes.
  6. While the first layer of the oat mixture is baking, place the caramels and milk you set aside earlier in the microwave and microwave 1-2 minutes at a time until melted.  Stirring after each minute or two with a heatproof spatula. You don’t want the caramel to boil or it will get too hard to eat when baked.
  7. Remove the pan with the first layer of oats from the oven.  
  8. Carefully pour the melted caramel over the baked oat mixture.  Then sprinkle on the 1 cup of chocolate chips. And last crumble the rest of the oat mixture evenly over the chocolate chips and caramel.
  9. Place in the oven and bake another 7-10 minutes or until the oat mixture begins to brown.
  10. Allow to cool for a few hours before cutting.  OR you can allow to cool about 30 minutes and then place the pan in the refrigerator for about an hour.  This makes the caramel more firm. I recommend this cooling option if you’re going to a picnic and it’s hot outside.
  11. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Cut into small squares and serve.  

Notes

I use a 9 x 13 inch baking pan, but the original recipe calls for a 9 x 11 inch baking pan which also works.

Crisp Veggie Salad For Summer

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Summer is just around the corner

Pools open this weekend! And there will certainly be Memorial Day picnics to attend.  Maybe you’re headed to the beach this weekend or the pool or a Memorial Day picnic? If so, this Crisp Veggie Salad is refreshing and easy to make ahead!  

Easy crisp veggie salad for summer

Make a big batch

I sometimes make a big batch of this one. It’s worth making because it keeps all week. I love having fresh, crisp veggies around that I can serve with a number of different meals. Especially, in the summer, when it’s so hot out you don’t want to use the oven or stove.

Crisp Summer Veggie Salad

This salad can work well for kids, because, if you use a dressing they like, they’re more likely to be open to trying the salad. Also, they can eat around the veggies they don’t like. Full disclosure: I’ve made this salad for years and my kids still don’t eat it; even though they love mustard vinaigrette (as our regular readers know, it’s a staple in our house) and they eat carrots and cucumbers regularly. I just keep making the salad. Maybe they’ll try it sometime and maybe not.

Make it with any crisp veggies you like

This salad can be made from any combination of veggies you like. Try making it with raw green beans, raw asparagus (cut off the tips and discard them), raw sugar snap peas, sliced radishes and toasted sliced almonds.

No recipe needed

Ingredients for easy crisp veggie salad

You can simply chop up as many raw veggies as you’d like. But if you’d like a recipe, here it is: Cut up ½ a head of cauliflower into small, bite-size florets. Peel and cut up a cucumber (or 2). Peel and cut up 3-4 large carrots. Invite your kids to help peel the carrots and cukes. Then rinse and slice 5 radishes. I often add some arugula or watercress too. Toss with about 1/2 cup of the mustard vinaigrette and some salt and pepper to taste. You can always add more vinaigrette.

To Make the Mustard Vinaigrette whisk together 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 2/3 cup canola oil and salt and pepper to taste.

4 ways to serve crisp veggie salad

Easy crisp veggie salad over farro
  1. As a veggie side
  2. As a main dish summer salad on a bed of cooked farro (one of my personal favorite grains) and topped with toasted, unsalted nuts.  Any kind of nuts you like will work. Sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds will work well, too. If you only have salted nuts, you may want to use a little less salt when making the salad.
  3. Another main dish summer salad: over mixed greens and topped with tuna
  4. Toss with cooked pasta for a yummy pasta salad

Speaking of summer did you read Anna’s recent post?

Being just on the verge of summer has me thinking about summer camp and Anna’s recent post. Ellie, our 11-year-old is going to sleep away camp for the first time this summer. I think I’m more nervous than she is! One of my concerns is what if she ends up in a cabin with kids and counselors who are focused on diets and diet talk. I know she has a lot of language and beliefs from home that will help her navigate this. But, it’s hard for a kid or teen (and many adults) when everyone around you is talking about the need to lose weight or what foods they’re eating and what they’re not. So, I sent the camp director the free training resource Anna shared in her last post! Who are you sharing the resource with? It’s important we get diet culture out of summer camp (along with all the other places it pops up).

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Crisp Summer Veggie Salad

  • Author: Elizabeth Davenport
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Description

Easy and versatile veggie salad.

Scale

Ingredients

1/2 head of cauliflower cut into small, bite-size pieces

3 medium carrots peeled and diced (or chopped)

1*seedless cucumber peeled and diced (or chopped)

4–6 radishes washed and thinly sliced

3/4 cup watercress leaves washed and removed from stems (or arugula)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup mustard vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Instructions

Cut up 1/2 head of cauliflower into small, bite-size pieces.

Peel the carrots and then slice each in half lengthwise.  Then dice (or chop) the carrots.

Peel the cucumber and then slice in half lengthwise.  Then dice or chop it.

Wash the radishes and then cut each in half.  Set on the cutting board sliced side down and slice them. The slices will look a bit like half moons.

Rinse the watercress.  Remove the leaves from the stems.  

Place all the ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.  Add salt and pepper to taste and 1/2 cup mustard vinaigrette.  You can always add more if needed. 

Notes

*If you buy cucumbers with seeds in them you can simply scrape out the seeds with a spoon after you peel the cucumber and slice it in half lengthwise.

**I typically make this with a whole head of cauliflower and then double the rest of the ingredients.  

****Recipe adapted from Crisp Vegetable Salad in Simple Pleasures by Alfred Portale

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Mustard Vinaigrette

  • Author: Elizabeth Davenport
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Ingredients

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2/3 cup canola oil

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Whisk together the mustard, vinegar, canola oil and salt and pepper until emulsified.  

Easy Weeknight Tofu Veggie Stir-Fry

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Easy weeknight tofu veggie stir-fry

If you subscribe to our newsletter, you’ll know this shows up on my weekly meal plan often. I’ve been making this easy, weeknight tofu veggie stir-fry a lot recently so I thought I’d share it with you. When I was growing up, stir-fry was in our meal line up, too, and I always loved it. There’s something so satisfying about quickly cooked, crisp veggies in a quick sauce over warm, tender rice. YUM!

Make a big batch so you have leftovers

Lately I’ve been making a BIG batch of stir-fry along with a big batch of rice. I serve the leftovers for dinner a second night or lunch a number of times during the week depending on how much is leftover. It works well reheated and in a thermos for lunches.

No recipe needed

Easy weeknight tofu veggie stir-fry

One of the nice things about stir-fry is you can use any combination of veggies and protein you’d like. You don’t really even need a recipe. I tend to use carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, sugar snap peas, edamame and bok choy (or baby bok choy), along with those canned baby corn. You can buy cut broccoli and sliced mushrooms, as well as chopped ginger. So, this dish really doesn’t take long to make. Then, all you have to do is peel and cut the carrots and mix the ingredients for the sauce.

I go through phases where I use skirt steak in my stir-fry. Shrimp or chicken works well too! But these days we’re trending tofu. I used to just drain press the tofu for about 30 minutes, cut it into cubes and add it to the veggies and sauce. But, I much prefer it this way because the texture is nice and firm and there’s some additional flavor to the tofu with the soy sauce and olive oil.  (I got the idea for baked tofu here).

I tend to change up what kind of rice I serve it over.  Sometimes, I serve this over rice cooked in coconut milk. Sometimes, it’s white rice and sometimes it’s brown rice.  Most of the time I use Lundberg rice and cook it in a pan on the stove.

Don’t give up

Dishes like this stir-fry can work well with young ones and more selective eaters because you (or they) can separate out the items, if having everything together is overwhelming.

When my oldest child (now 15) was young, she didn’t care for many of the ingredients in my stir fry. She’d eat the carrots, broccoli, rice and whatever protein was in the combo. Lately though, she’s been eating the dish as is. She recently told me how much she loves mushrooms and noted that she used to hate them.  I’ve been cooking stir-fry (veggie sauté) for a LOOOOONG time. I share this because it’s a good example of the importance of continuing to offer foods even when children won’t eat them.

Easy weeknight tofu veggie stirfry

The order I use to get tofu veggie stir-fry on the table

  • Pre heat the oven
  • Put rice on to cook
  • Drain and press the tofu
  • While the tofu is draining, gather together your ingredients for the rest of the stir-fry.
  • Make the sauce
  • Chop the ginger
  • Rinse and chop the veggies (or open the bags and containers of pre-sliced and pre-cut veggies)
  • Cube the tofu, toss it with the soy sauce, cornstarch and oil
  • Bake the tofu
  • Stir-fry the veggies!
  • Add the baked tofu to the stir-fry
  • Serve over cooked rice
  • Enjoy!

If you’re looking for more quick and easy recipes check out previous “go-to” meals posts here and here.

Let us know if you make the easy, weeknight tofu, veggie stir-fry. We’d love to hear from you!

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Weeknight Tofu Veggie Stir-Fry

  • Author: Elizabeth Davenport
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Description

The amounts here can be adjusted to your taste and needs.  This makes a big batch.

Scale

Ingredients

1 container, extra firm tofu, baked (recipe below)

2 TBS olive oil

2 TBS minced, fresh ginger

4-6 carrots peeled and sliced

1 large bunch of broccoli, rinsed and cut into small florets (slice the stem too and add it)

1 8 ounce container sliced mushrooms

2 cups (or 1 small bag) sugar snap peas

1 1/2 cups thawed, shelled edamame

1 bunch bok choy or 2–3 bunches baby bok choy, chopped and rinsed

1 can of baby corn, drained

Sauce

3 TBS Hoisoin sauce

3 TBS. rice vinegar

¼ cup soy sauce

1 cup water

Instructions

  1. Mix together the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar and water and set aside.
  2. Add the olive oil and ginger to a 5 quart sauté pan.  Turn heat to medium – high.
  3. Once the ginger begins to sizzle, add the mushrooms and carrots and cook while stirring for a couple of minutes.  
  4. Next add the broccoli and snap peas. Cook while stirring for another few minutes until they begin to turn bright green.
  5. This is where I add the sauce.  
  6. Then add the thawed edamame, bok choy and baby corn and continue to cook for a few more minutes.
  7. Last, add the baked tofu. Remove from heat.
  8. Serve over cooked rice.

Notes

Feel free to cook the veggies longer if you like them more tender.

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Baked Tofu

  • Author: Elizabeth Davenport
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Description

Tossing extra firm tofu with cornstarch, soy sauce and olive oil and baking it creates a tofu with a nice flavor and firm, almost crisp texture.

Scale

Ingredients

1 box extra firm tofu, drained

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Instructions

  1. Remove the tofu from the packaging
  2. You’ll need 2 paper towels each folded in half lengthwise.  Place one on a plate, then place the tofu on top of the paper towel.  Place the second paper towel on top of the tofu. Then place a pan on top of that to squeeze out the moisture.
  3. Let sit for 10 – 30 minutes.
  4. Remove the tofu from under the pan and discard the paper towels.
  5. Cut into cubes and toss with olive oil, soy sauce and cornstarch.  
  6. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  
  7. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from over and add to the stir-fry.

 

10 Easy, Everyday Sides

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Getting dinner on the table can feel like a race. You’re juggling getting home from work, trying to protect bed times, helping with homework, and, maybe, getting kids to and from activities. All these moving pieces can feel overwhelming. I have some standby sides I rely on that are simple to make AND they taste great. They make getting dinner on the table a little easier.  I love to cook.  But my motto for weeknight meals (and most weekend meals) is — Keep It Simple!

A little meal prep can also help make getting dinner on the table easier. I really enjoyed Jessica’s guest post on meal prep! Click here to read the post if you missed it.  It got me thinking about the meal prep I do. (I hardboiled a bunch of eggs right after reading Jessica’s post!). My meal prep has looked different over the years and it looks different each week.  I go through phases where I’ll make a big fruit salad on the weekend, hard boil a bunch of eggs, roast a bunch of veggies, and make a big batch of rice or farro or quinoa. And, I go through phases where I don’t do any meal prep. A few items I meal prep on a regular basis these days are mustard vinaigrette and homemade taco seasoning. Keeping these around makes getting dinner ready easier.

Whether I’m in meal prep mode or not, here are some of the fruit and veggie sides I rely on (I’ll share my quick and easy carbohydrate sides to pair with these sides in a post soon):

1. Sautéed shredded brussels sprouts

Trader Joe’s typically has bags of shredded brussels sprouts.  All you have to do is add some olive oil to a saute pan, turn the heat to medium and empty the bag of brussels sprouts into the pan.  Add some salt and pepper and sauteé for about 5 minutes or until they’re bright green.

You can watch our video on how to cook them here.

2. Green beans (fresh or frozen) with butter and Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt.

This dish takes me right back to my childhood and being at my grandparent’s house.  My grandmother was an incredible cook and this was one of the veggie sides she served with dinners.

Fill a medium saucepan half full with water. Add enough salt to make the water taste salty (about 1 tablespoon) and bring the water to a boil.  Add the green beans, place a lid on the pan and cook for 5-7 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the beans from the water using tongs (or carefully empty the contents of the pan into a strainer over the sink).  Toss with butter and Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt.  

10 easy everyday sides


3. Cucumber and avocado with mustard vinaigrette (or Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt)

Another one from my grandmother. She used to serve this in the summer with cucumbers fresh from her garden.  To this day, the combination is one of my favorites. It’s also great on a sandwich with a few slices of goat gouda, a little Dijon mustard and some lettuce.

Peel and slice a cucumber.  Cut up an avocado and toss with mustard vinaigrette OR season with Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt.  

4. Braised Asparagus

Don’t let the term braised turn you away! This is actually very easy to make.

Rinse the asparagus and snap off the ends (great job for a child). Place a large sauté pan over medium high heat.  Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the asparagus spears, season with salt and pepper and sauteé for about 5 minutes or until a few of them begin to brown.

Then turn the heat down to medium low and cook for about 15 more minutes or until the spears have begun to soften a bit.  Remove from the pan and serve.

Anna roasts asparagus which works well, too – here’s her post: Easy, Convenient, Go-To Fruit and Vegetable Sides.  The benefit to roasting it is that you can make everything in the oven and even try to fit your entire meal on one sheet pan. If you’re roasting something like chicken thighs and little new potatoes, you can add the asparagus to the sheet pan at the halfway mark to prevent it from getting overcooked.

*Recipe adapted from Braised Asparagus in At Home in Provence by Patricia Wells

10 easy everyday sides

5. Roasted Cauliflower

It’s one of my favorites.  And it’s one of those foods my children don’t like (at least not yet). It’s easy to get stuck in the rut of cooking what we know our children will eat. It occurred to me when I was writing this post that I haven’t made roasted cauliflower in awhile. So, guess what I’m going to cook soon!?  Keep offering foods even if your children refuse to try them. They’re likely to try it. If you stop offering a certain food, there’s no opportunity to try it.

Preheat oven to 425 F. Cut the cauliflower into florets. (Or you can follow the same steps for roasting and use Trader Joe’s frozen cauliflower florets pictured here). Toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on a ½ sheet pan like this one here and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the cauliflower has begun to brown.  Remove from the oven and serve.

10 easy everyday sides

6. Marinated chard (or any dark leafy green)

Strip the leaves from the stems (a great job for kids!).  Cut or tear the leaves into about 2 inch pieces. Rinse the leaves under cold water.  Heat a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Then add the chard (or other leafy green leaves) to the pan.  Season with salt and pepper, turn the heat down to medium low and cook for 5-10 minutes stirring occasionally. Different types of greens will take different amounts of time to cook.  The leaves will look bright green and slightly wilted when cooked.

When they’re done, toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, a chopped clove of garlic, and about 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.  The recipe also calls for a pinch of red pepper flakes which I don’t use.

*Recipe adapted from The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters

10 easy, everyday sides

7. Roasted cherry tomatoes with basil or pesto

It doesn’t get much easier than this.  Preheat your oven to 425 F. Toss the rinsed cherry or grape tomatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper and place on a ½ sheet pan.  If you like you can add a few whole cloves of garlic on the pan with them. Place them in the oven and roast for about 15 minutes or until they have begun to burst. Once they come out of the oven add 1 tablespoon of pesto and stir. Or add chopped basil instead of pesto.

8. Broccoli with butter, salt and pepper

Even though this one is obvious, I included it because it’s so easy and we are a houseful of broccoli lovers, so it’s something I make a lot.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cut the broccoli into florets (or buy pre cut florets) and add to the boiling water. Place a lid on the pan! If you forgot this step, your whole house will smell like broccoli! Cook for about 5 minutes (a few minutes longer if you like broccoli cooked more tender).  Carefully remove the broccoli from the water using a slotted spoon. Toss with a bit of butter and salt and pepper.

10 easy, everyday sides

9. Sautéed baby bok choy with lemon or soy sauce

This one truly takes less than 10 minutes, at most, to make.  

Cut each bunch of bok choy in half and then cut the end off.  Separate the leaves and rinse under cold water. Heat about a teaspoon or 2 of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat.  Add the baby bok choy leaves along with some salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes or until the leaves are bright green and have begun to wilt.  Squeeze fresh lemon juice over them and serve. Or, you can drizzle them with a little soy sauce.

10 easy, everyday sides

10. Sugar Snap Peas

These are super quick. They’re also good cold (add them to a salad or eat them on their own) or reheated — if there are leftovers.

Rinse under cold water. Then remove the ends and strings from the sugar snap peas. Place a medium sauté pan over medium high heat. Add about 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Next, add the sugar snap peas and some salt and pepper.  Sauté for 3-5 minutes or until they’re bright green.

As we often remind everyone, meals don’t have to be complicated to be nourishing!

What are your favorite quick and easy fruit and veggie sides?  We’d love to hear from you!

Homemade Soft Pretzels – Cooking With Kids Part 2

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It snowed here yesterday!  YAY! Snow days are some of my favorite days!  I love snow for its beauty and the slowed pace it brings our life.   Here in the DC Metro area snow often means school is closed. What a gift to have an unexpected day to spend time together.

Homemade Soft Pretzels

Another reason I love snow days is they’re a great opportunity to bake and/or cook something I might not make regularly.  There’s something so comforting about being in the kitchen on a snowy day.  Rain and ice were predicted for the afternoon yesterday so I decided we’d make homemade soft pretzels.  The recipe is simple to make. And kids love the soft, smooth feel of the dough.

It’s fun to make some unconventional pretzel shapes!

Homemade Soft Pretzels

I’ve always used Alton Brown’s Homemade Soft Pretzel recipe.  I’ve rewritten the instructions in my own words, but the ingredients and measurements are unchanged from his recipe.

How Kids Can Help Make Homemade Soft Pretzels

As I mentioned in my previous post about cooking with kids (you can read it here), cooking with them doesn’t have to be complicated.  Here are some simple ways even young children can help make these. You could invite them in at any one of the steps in the process. (Kids shouldn’t help with the step that involves boiling the pretzels).

  • Measure ingredients
  • Put the dough in a bowl to rise
  • Punch down the dough once it’s risen
  • Cut the dough into pieces before shaping
  • Roll out the dough
  • Shape the pretzels (we like to make unconventional pretzel shapes!)
  • Crack and separate the egg
  • Brush the pretzles with egg wash before salting them
  • Sprinkle the pretzels with salt before they go in the oven
Homemade Soft Pretzels

As you can see, it looks like one pretzel didn’t get the egg wash (this is what helps then brown). But no big deal! It still tasted great!

Cooking together creates opportunities for connection, creativity and curiosity.  

Cooking provides a great opportunity to teach a little reading, math, science, history and where our food comes from.  It also offers children a chance to experience new foods. Kids are more likely to try a new food if they’re involved in the preparation.

I’ve made this recipe for years and when the girls were in preschool I made these at their school with each of their classes.  Any recipe that uses yeast provides a great opportunity for a quick science lesson.

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Simple Tips For Cooking With Kids

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I hope you had a Happy Valentine’s Day! Each year I usually bake cookies with the girls. Click here for the recipe for the Valentine’s cookies we made last year. Today, Ellie and I made sugar cookies! Baking is just one simple way to involve kids in cooking. You can measure out all of the ingredients ahead of time and have your child help cut out the cookies or sprinkle on the sugar to keep things simple.

The thought of cooking with kids, especially young ones can feel overwhelming.  But it doesn’t have to be complicated. You can let them just stir something, or sit on the floor with an empty pot and spoon and “cook” on their own or simply unwrap a stick of butter. As they get older and begin cooking on their own, things can get pretty messy! This is a great opportunity for them to take on the cleanup process, too.

Cooking with kids
It’s a bit hard to see, but note all the flour on the floor and the Learning Tower. We got so much use out of ours.
(This picture of Caroline is from about 13 years ago!)

Tips For Cooking With Kids

Kitchen safety

Safety in the kitchen is often a big concern for parents.  Think about age appropriate kitchen activities. Use the back burners on your stove and keep knives and other sharp utensils out of reach of young children.

You’ll want to give children activities that are safe and age appropriate.  For instance, your toddler/preschooler isn’t going to cook anything on the stove or use a sharp knife.  

Letting children help in the kitchen provides a nice opportunity to teach them about kitchen safety, following rules and even math.

Put spinach in a bowl

Toddlers

They’ll need lots of supervision and something safe to stand on or in (we used this Learning Tower when Caroline and Ellie were youngl).

  • Pretend cook – just give them a spoon and a bowl and let them sit on the floor and bang away
  • Rinse fruits, veggies, beans
  • Stir dry or wet ingredients that aren’t hot
  • Whisk dry or wet ingredients that aren’t hot
  • Help measure wet or dry ingredients that aren’t hot
  • Put ingredients in a bowl
  • Tear herbs or lettuce
  • Brush on oil or egg wash with a pastry brush
  • Toss the salad
  • Use a cookie cutter to cut cookies
Anna’s daughter helped crack the eggs.

Preschoolers

  • All that toddlers do PLUS:
  • Fill muffin tins with muffin or cupcake batter
  • Pour cold ingredients
  • Get out pans, bowls utensils and ingredients
  • Let them cut soft foods like strawberries or butter with a butter knife or one of these knives designed for young children (Put a damp towel under the cutting board so it doesn’t shift around).
  • Crack eggs
  • Separate eggs
  • Roll or knead dough
  • Top a pizza or fill burritos or quesadillas
  • Mash avocado with a fork or potato masher
  • Counter clean up
  • Snap green beans
  • Shuck corn
  • Unwrap butter or cream cheese
This is Ellie about 9 years ago concentrating hard on licking the spatula!

Elementary Age

  • All of the above PLUS:
  • Read the recipe and get all the ingredients out
  • Peel vegetables and fruits with a peeler
  • Make toast
  • Use a mixer with supervision
Assembling strawberry shortcakes. Yum!

Tween and Teens

Once kids reach this age group and they have all those years of cooking with you, they’ll really take off. Teach them to safely use a sharp knife. At this stage they can help with making meals on a regular basis, even. They still need reminders of kitchen safety (tweens especially). And there might still be a big mess when they’re done.

Using a small sharp knife to cut butter

What’s Your Earliest Memory of Cooking?

One of my earliest and fondest memories was in preschool when we cooked lunch for our parents.  We made tomato soup and grilled cheese (or maybe it was open face toasted cheese sandwiches.) I have a memory of standing on a chair so I could have my turn at stirring the soup. I’m sure that’s where my love of cooking began! If you’d like to read more about the benefits of cooking with kids click here to read a previous post.

Tips for cooking with kids
Stir mushrooms (in 2005)!

What are your favorite ways to cook with kids? And how do you celebrate Valentine’s Day? We love to hear from our readers!

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links.

This recipe is adapted from Maida Heatter’s Cookies.

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Maida Heatter’s Sugar Cookies

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Elizabeth Davenport
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Description

Bake these yummy cookies up either crispy or soft.  

Scale

Ingredients

3 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Scant 1/4 teaspoon salt

6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 Tablespoon milk

Additional granulated sugar for topping

Instructions

Gently whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.

Cut the softened butter into about tablespoon size pieces. Place them in the bowl of an electric mixer and cream using the paddle attachment.  Then add the sugar and vanilla extract and beat for a minute or two. 

Add the eggs one at a time beating after each addition.  Then add the milk and beat until combined (just a few seconds). Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until combined.  

Remove the dough from the mixer bowl and divide the dough in two.  Wrap each half in parchment paper or wax paper.  Chill for 1-2 hours.

Preheat your over to 400 F.  

Roll out the dough on a floured surface using a lightly floured rolling pin.  Roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness.  Use whatever shape cookie cutter you’d like.  

Place the cutouts on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle generously with sugar.

Bake for 5-10 minutes depending on the size and thickness of your cookies.  

Notes

Sometimes we make these thick and bake them on the short side so they stay soft.  Then we frost them.

And sometimes we roll them thinner, sprinkle them with colored sugar and bake them a little longer for a nice crisp sugar cookie.

“Go To Meals” – Part 2

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Easy Bacon, Black Eyed Pea and Kale Soup

Hi!  Elizabeth here.  I’m calling this post “Go-To Meals” Part 2.  Anna shared her family’s “go-to meals” in her post last week.  Read it here.  I’m definitely adopting their yearly tradition–Anna, Dan and their children spend some time on their car trip home from visiting Dan’s parents for New Years to talk about what meals they’ve been eating during the year.   Anna writes down the list so she can refer to it during the year. I just love this idea! I also love the way Anna and Dan divided the list into categories that made complete sense to me. Some of my “Go-To Meals” might fall into Anna and Dan’s Standard Meals.  A good example that everyone’s meals and how they approach food are different.

My family’s current “go-to meals”  

There are definitely some that have fallen off the list over the years.  I plan to bring them back into our rotation and share them with you in a future post.

Meals don’t have to be complicated to be nourishing or to provide an opportunity to gather together to eat.

What does this list tell me?  That I rely A LOT on broccoli and salad as sides.  Perhaps it’s time to branch out a bit!? I’m going to refer to Anna’s post here on simple sides when I’m planning meals over the coming weeks.

One of My Family’s “Go-To Meals”: Bacon, Black Eyed Pea and Kale Soup

Everyone in my house likes a version of this soup.

My 11 year old, Ellie, only likes the broth.  The bowl she serves herself is often mostly broth with just a few beans.  Caroline, my 14 year old, loves this soup except for the kale. The bowl she serves herself is typically the complete opposite of Ellie’s bowl.  Caroline loves the beans and prefers less broth. I don’t worry that neither likes the kale. The kale cooks in the broth, so some of the nutrients from the kale find their way into the tasty, parmesan infused broth.  And eventually, they might end up trying the kale again.

I’ve made this soup for years.  It’s inspired by/adapted from a pasta recipe, Orecchiette with Shell Beans, Proscuitto, and Parmigiano-Reggiano in Alfred Portale Simple Pleasures: Home Cooking from the Gotham Bar and Grill’s Acclaimed Chef.

It’s quick and easy.  And I typically have the ingredients on hand.  It can truly be made in 30 minutes!

Easy Bacon, Black Eyed Pea and Kale Soup

At some point, I decided to change the recipe up a bit.  I began adding a lot more broth, a hunk of parmesan cheese (this gives the broth a lovely rich flavor), and black eyed peas.  

And it slowly transformed into soup, rather than a sauce for pasta.

Sometimes, I serve this over polenta–not as a “go-to meal” though!  Served over polenta is a great option for a nice dinner and it’s great for a crowd, too.   During a few Christmases at Chad’s parents (there’s always a crowd), I made a big batch of the soup and served it over polenta along with a salad. Then we used the leftovers as soup for lunches.  

Here it is served over pasta.  I love serving it over orecchiette (which means little ears) pasta because the broth pools in the “little ear” shape.  I alternate between the three because we have one person in our foursome who doesn’t like polenta and one who prefers it as the stand-alone soup.    

If you’d like to make this without the bacon, I’d suggest adding fresh basil or a couple of tablespoons of pesto to the soup just before serving.

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Easy Bacon, Black Eyed Pea and Kale Soup

  • Author: Elizabeth Davenport
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Description

A great weeknight soup that doubles as a tasty ragu over pasta or polenta.  Serve it over polenta for a nice weekend or special occasion meal.

Scale

Ingredients

4 slices of bacon cut into small strips

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

3 cans black eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed

3 cups chicken stock

2 cups water

1 2 x 3 inch hunk of parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed

2 cups kale, washed and torn

1 ½ teaspoon salt

pepper

Instructions

  1. Stack the 4 slices of bacon and cut into strips crosswise.  Place the bacon in a large pot over medium-medium low heat. Cook the bacon until it is crisped–about 10 minutes.
  2. While the bacon is cooking, peel and chop the garlic; drain and rinse the beans in a colander, and rinse and tear the kale; and cut off a piece of parmesan cheese.
  3. Once the bacon is crisp, add the chopped garlic and cook 2 minutes.  Next add the beans, stock, water, parmesan hunk and salt and pepper.
  4. Bring to a boil.  Then turn the heat down to medium and simmer the soup for about 15 minutes.  Next add the peas and kale and cook for about 5 more minutes.
  5. Serve as a soup or serve over pasta for a quick and easy tasty weeknight meal.  

 

Notes

For a weekend meal or for a large group, I sometimes serve it over polenta.

 

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts – Our Holiday Tradition

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Just before Thanksgiving, Anna and I shared some of our family holiday traditions. These Brussels sprouts are part of our Thanksgiving AND Christmas meal traditions. The process of removing the cores and seperating the leaves takes awhile. But it’s well worth it! And Chad and I enjoy the time together. Sometimes people help with the process and sometimes it’s just us. Either way, we enjoy making this dish.

If you’d prefer not to core and leaf the Brussels sprouts, you can simply feed them through your food processor using the shredder attachment. It’s not the exact same dish, but still works well and tastes great! Either way you decide to prepare them, cook them until they are bright green and some of them just being to brown.

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Sauteed Brussels Sprouts

  • Author: Elizabeth Davenport
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Description

Even Brussels sprout naysayers will like these tender, sauteed Brussels.

Scale

Ingredients

2 bags (or 1 branch) of Brussels sprouts

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Cut the end off the Brussels sprouts.  Then, using a sharp paring knife, carefully carve out the core.  Once you’ve cored all the Brussels sprouts you can begin separating the leaves into a large bowl.  (You can do this a day or two ahead and cover the bowl and leave it in the refrigerator until ready to saute them).

Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil to a large saute pan and heat over medium-high heat.  Add the Brussels sprout leaves and salt and pepper to taste.  Saute for about 10 minutes.  Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.  Serve hot or at room temperature.

Our Favorite Cookbooks – The 4th and Final Gift Guide in Our Series

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Gift Guides

I don’t know about you, but I love gift guides.  They give me new ideas and they’re just fun to read.   We’re on a gift list roll right now!  This is our 4th and final gift list in our series.  Click these links to read the previous guides if you missed them or want to revisit them: 13 Favorite Kitchen Essentials That Make Great Gifts, Nutrition and Body Books for Parents and Kids and 7 Nutrition and Body Books for Adults.  We hope ours have helped you find some great gifts for loved ones or for yourself.

Cookbook Love

Anyone who has been to my house has seen my shelves of cookbooks (and there are even more on shelves in the basement). I absolutely love cookbooks! I read them like novels. There’s always a stack next to my bed sitting amidst the other books I’m reading. A babysitter gave me my first cookbook when I was 9 or 10. I still have it! Our Favorite Cookbooks

You can always learn something new when you open up a cookbook. A great cookbook will teach you to cook with easy to follow instructions and a reasonable number of easy to find ingredients. (There are great cookbooks that teach challenging techniques that include recipes with lots of ingredients, but that’s not what this guide is about). A cookbook can also offer a trip to new parts of the world, history lessons, and even some science. Cookbooks offer opportunities for creativity – combining taste, texture, and colors in new or different ways. In great cookbooks, each author’s writing style and the photography or drawings also pull you in. Wonderful cookbooks will make you feel inspired and empowered to cook.

Our Current Favorite Cookbooks

For this post, I decided to stick with just a few recommendations for cookbooks that make cooking accessible. I’ve also included a few that delve into cooking that’s not quite as simple, but fun for anyone who enjoys cooking. It was hard to narrow them down!

Cookbooks for the New or Experienced Cook

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat

 Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat

This book is the first on the list, because it’s my current favorite.  I love everything about this book!  The first half of the book is divided into 4 sections that correspond to the 4 words of the title. You’ll learn how each element works and how to use them in your cooking. The illustrations are more intricate than those you find in most cookbooks. In “How to Use This Book,” Nosrat writes that the choice to use illustrations instead of photos is to prevent you from feeling like there’s only one way for a dish to look.  If you’re interested in food and the science of cooking and want to learn the essential elements, get this book!   Most of the recipes are easy to follow with just a few ingredients.

If you haven’t had a chance to watch the Netflix episodes, (you can watch the trailer here) make sure you put this at the top of your list.  This 4 part series warms my heart.  I know that might seem hard to believe, but it’s such a pleasure to watch.  

Our Favorite Cookbooks - 4th and Final Gift GuideHow to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

This is one of Anna and her husband, Dan’s, go-to cookbooks. Anna loves the book because everything is explained in a straightforward way. The recipes are simple and have just a few ingredients. Dan likes the book because the recipes don’t require buying unusual ingredients that are only used once and then end up sitting in the refrigerator for ages.  

Our Favorite Cookbooks - 4th and Final Gift Guide in Our SeriesHow to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

I love this book because it’s filled with easy to follow techniques and a ton of ideas for vegetarian meals.  Throughout the book, Bittman provides lists like “39 Vegetable and Legume Dishes That Can be Tossed with Pasta” and “39 Dishes That Can Be Stir-Fried with Asian Noodles” and the page numbers where you can find these easy recipes. These are just 2 of the many useful lists that direct you to recipes throughout the book. If you want to own only one cookbook about basic vegetarian cooking you can’t go wrong with this one. …

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13 Favorite Kitchen Essentials That Make Great Gifts

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We hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Did you have a chance to read our post about self care during the holidays?  If not, here’s a link to it. We share our tips for taking care of yourself during the holidays.

The holidays are officially ON. The fun has begun! Over the coming weeks, we’ll share links to some of our favorite kitchen essentials, books on building healthy relationships with food, and our favorite cookbooks.

Kitchen Essentials

I love kitchen gadgets.  These are some of our favorites.  Many of these items were actually given to me as gifts over the years, so I can attest they make great gifts!

The links in this post link to items at Amazon.com.  We are members of the Amazon Affiliate program which means we receive payment from Amazon when our readers purchase items from links in this post.

Stainless Steel Cookie Spatula

I love this stainless steel cookie spatula. It’s great for baking. And it’s great for young kids to use because it’s easy for small hands to manage.

Ceramic Paring Knife

While I was at my mom’s over Thanksgiving, I used her ceramic paring knife.  I loved it! I don’t have one, but I’m definitely asking for one. The benefits of ceramic: it’s light, it retains its sharp edge and it’s stainless.

 Kitchen Shears

I use them for so many tasks. They’re great for making peeling shrimp easier, cutting herbs, opening bags and boxes of food – like those beans that come in boxes? I can’t open those without scissors despite the perforrated top!

Microplane Grater/Zester

I’m not sure what I used before I owned this!  I have two of these. One I use for grating parmesan cheese and the other I use for zesting citrus peel.

Oxo Y Vegetable Peeler 

This peeler rocks! It is by far the best peeler I’ve owned. You want this in your kitchen!  You can even peel butternut squash with it.

Flat Whisk

A friend gave me this many years ago and it’s one of my most used utensils.  It can reach the bottom edges of pans, so when you’re cooking and whisking (like making mac and cheese) bits don’t get stuck in the pan. …

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